Land environment

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Forest Service has spent more than $2 billion battling forest fires around the country — a record as wildfires blacken the American West in one of the nation's worst fire seasons. Wildfires have ravaged the West this summer with 64 large fires burning across 10 states as of...

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Wildfires that are blackening the American West in one of the nation's worst fire seasons have ignited calls, including from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, to thin forests that have become so choked with trees that they are at "powder keg levels." The destruction has exposed old...

In this Sept. 6, 2017, photo, the Miami Drum Services Superfund cleanup site in a fenced off area behind a rail yard. At least five of the most flood-prone Superfund sites located in South Florida are in various stages of cleanup. Strong winds and driving rains from Irma could damage years of cleanup work completed at the sites and spread contamination, endangering public health by spreading the contamination. As Hurricane Irma bears down on Florida, the Environmental Protection Agency is emphasizing its efforts to evaluate and prepare some of the nation’s most contaminated toxic waste sites from the risks posed by howling winds and surging water. (AP Photo/ Jason Dearen)

MIAMI (AP) — Dozens of personnel from the Environmental Protection Agency worked to secure some of the nation's most contaminated toxic waste sites as Hurricane Irma bore down on Florida. The agency said its employees evacuated personnel, secured equipment and safeguarded hazardous materials in...

In this Sept. 6, 2017, photo, the Miami Drum Services Superfund cleanup site in a fenced off area behind a rail yard. At least five of the most flood-prone Superfund sites located in South Florida are in various stages of cleanup. Strong winds and driving rains from Irma could damage years of cleanup work completed at the sites and spread contamination, endangering public health by spreading the contamination. As Hurricane Irma bears down on Florida, the Environmental Protection Agency is emphasizing its efforts to evaluate and prepare some of the nation’s most contaminated toxic waste sites from the risks posed by howling winds and surging water. (AP Photo/ Jason Dearen)

MIAMI (AP) — Dozens of personnel from the Environmental Protection Agency worked to secure some of the nation's most contaminated toxic waste sites as Hurricane Irma bore down on Florida. The agency said its employees evacuated personnel, secured equipment and safeguarded hazardous materials in...

A house is seen flooded in Orange County, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, as water slowly recedes from Tropical Storm Harvey. Sunday was declared a day of prayer in Texas by Gov. Greg Abbott and across the nation by President Donald Trump. He and the first lady attended services at St. John's, an Episcopal church in Washington, a day after visiting Harvey evacuees in Houston and Louisiana. (Kim Brent/The Beaumont Enterprise via AP)

HOUSTON (AP) — Authorities carried out a controlled burn Sunday at a chemical plant damaged by Harvey, sending small flames and gray smoke into the sky, after saying the highly unstable compounds that had caused previous explosions needed to be neutralized. Small flames burning in charred...

Church members gather for Sunday services in the parking lot between their flood-damaged First Baptist Church and a pile of debris Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, in Humble, Texas. The church building was flooded with two feet of water from Hurricane Harvey prompting services to be held in the parking lot. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

HOUSTON (AP) — Authorities launched a controlled burn Sunday at a chemical plant damaged by Harvey, sending small flames and gray smoke into the sky, and said the highly unstable compounds that had exploded earlier needed to be neutralized. Officials said the "proactive measures" to ignite the six...

Edward Woods takes a break from cleaning up his mother's home, which was destroyed by floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, in Spring, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

HOUSTON (AP) — Authorities launched a controlled burn Sunday at a chemical plant damaged by Harvey that had already seen several explosions, saying highly unstable compounds inside needed to be neutralized. Officials announced "proactive measures" to ignite the six remaining trailers at the Arkema...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Former Interior Secretary Cecil V. Andrus, who engineered the conservation of millions of acres of Alaska land during the Carter administration, has died. He was 85. Andrus died late Wednesday of complications from lung cancer, daughter Tracy Andrus said. A onetime lumberjack,...

FILE - In this July 25, 2005 file photo, a sage grouse is seen near Fallon, Nev. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says a new federal plan to protect the threatened sage grouse will better align with conservation efforts in 11 Western states where the bird lives. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Interior Department on Monday unveiled a plan to protect the threatened sage grouse that gives Western states where the bird lives flexibility for economic development. Miners, ranchers and some Western governors had argued Obama-era policies jeopardized logging and other...

Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, second from right, applauds with ASEAN Foreign Ministers Don Pramudwinai of Thailand, Pham Binh Minh of Vietnam, and Kyaw Tin of Myanmar during the ASEAN-Australia ministerial meeting Sunday, Aug.6, 2017 in suburban Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines. The annual forum, hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), brings together the top diplomats from 26 countries and the European Union for talks on political and security issues in Asia-Pacific. (Mohd Rasfan, Pool via AP)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — China's top diplomat said Sunday that talks for a nonaggression pact aimed at preventing clashes from erupting in the disputed South China Sea may start this year if "outside parties" don't cause a major disruption. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the start of talks...